At 3030 Bernal Avenue in Pleasanton, a nail salon and a wine bar now share a wall, and both belong to the same woman. Tammy Nguyen spends her mornings opening T's Nail Bar, while Fusion Wine Bar operates next door, a Vietnamese-and-American restaurant she launched after decades of doing nails as a single mother raising two kids.
Nguyen signed the lease for Fusion Wine Bar in 2023, and the road to opening involved permits, furniture and equipment purchases, and line-cook training before she ever served a plate, according to Pleasanton Weekly. Pleasanton's Commercial Tenant Improvement Guide identifies office, retail, and restaurant as examples of tenant-space uses that applicants must describe. The restaurant had a couple of weeks of soft opening before its grand opening on April 12, 2026, while the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 28, 2026, according to the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce. The menu itself reflects Nguyen's roots: banh mi with barbecue pork, pickled radish, and special sauce; spring rolls; prawn nest salad bites with shrimp and wonton cups in fusion sauce; and a Vietnamese mango salad built from mangos, mint, fried shallots, shrimp, cucumbers, red onion, basil, and peanut, per the same account.
From a Boat Off Vietnam to a Bernal Avenue Storefront
Nguyen's path to Pleasanton began decades earlier and far from the East Bay. She fled Vietnam at age 16 in a small boat, was stranded at sea before a Chinese vessel rescued her, and then lived in a Hong Kong detention center before reuniting with family in Oakland, according to ACES Golf. She went on to work for years in nail salons while raising two children as a single mother before eventually opening her own salon and, later, the wine bar next to it.
The restaurant's dishes lean into Vietnamese flavors while borrowing from Japanese and American traditions too, including an agedashi tofu cake made of silken tofu coated in starch and deep-fried, topped with fried mushroom flakes instead of the traditional bonito flakes, and a rangoon filled with diced shrimp and Japanese imitation crab with minimal filler, per Pleasanton Weekly.
Wine From Next Door, Not Just Napa
Rather than leaning on Napa labels, Fusion Wine Bar built its list around Livermore Valley, the wine region bordering Pleasanton in Alameda County. The bar stocks bottles from Rubino Estates Winery, Ruby Hill Winery, McGrail Vineyards, Darcie Kent Estate Winery, Wood Family Vineyards, and Wente Vineyards, according to ACES Golf. Livermore Valley diner Angie Casillas praised the Vietnamese crispy wings with garlic fish sauce and diced white radish, per Pleasanton Weekly's account.
The bar also serves Vietnamese, Thai, and local brewery beers, plus mocktails and drinks made with soju and sake. That's possible because under California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control rules and state law, including AB 416, eating establishments holding a Type 41 license can legally serve low-alcohol Korean soju and Japanese shochu alongside beer and wine without a full liquor license, according to BevNET. Diners can also order Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk and matcha coffee, alongside papaya and mango salads, gyoza, chicken wings, fusion chicken wraps, and an Asian burger.
A Patio, Trivia Nights, and a First-Responder Habit
The restaurant's patio is decorated with Vietnamese lanterns, and the space doubles as a neighborhood hangout beyond dinner service. Fusion Wine Bar hosts Tuesday trivia and Wednesday music bingo, and its Happy Wednesdays menu includes two spring rolls, three pieces of seafood bruschetta, and vegan options, per Pleasanton Weekly. Its weekly events include Tuesday trivia and Wednesday music bingo. Customers who order two glasses of wine or two draft beers get a free dish, and first responders receive a 15 percent discount.
That discount reflects a pattern that predates the restaurant. Nguyen has spent years donating fried egg rolls to Alameda County Sheriff's Office and local police department events, and when the Little Fire broke out in unincorporated Little Valley near Sunol and Pleasanton Hills in July 2026, she provided free coffee to the first responders working the scene. Hoodline previously reported on the blaze.
Running Two Businesses Back to Back
Nguyen's schedule reflects the demands of operating both shops. She arrives at 8:30 a.m. daily to open T's Nail Bar an hour later, and she closes both businesses on Mondays so she can personally drive to San Jose to buy Vietnamese bananas and other ingredients, including fresh herbs and greens, according to Pleasanton Weekly's reporting relayed by Potluck Pundits. San Jose also has a Vietnamese supermarket.
According to the City of Pleasanton's FY 2025/26 and 2026/27 project prioritization list, the city is pursuing a strategy to attract and retain desirable retail businesses as part of strengthening the local economy.
Regulars have noticed the convenience of having both businesses under one roof. Nancy Hueffed said she and Terry Hueffed loved the spring rolls, mango salad, and fried bananas with coconut ice cream, while customer Anthony Di Feo described Fusion Wine Bar as a one-stop evening, with dinner following a nail appointment next door. For Nguyen, the wine bar represents a new chapter after raising two children largely on her own, one built on the same neighborhood ties she cultivated for decades at the nail salon next door.
